Songs of Awe

Broadcast:

Sunday 23 September 2012 6:05AM

Music and singing have been an important part of Jewish life throughout the ages, from the Temple to the synagogue and concert stage. And with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, ending earlier in the week, ushering in the ten day period known as the Days of Awe (or Days of Repentance) Yamim Nora'im, leading to Yom Kippur, it’s a good time to explore a range of Jewish music.

From two thousand year old hymns, Shabbat table songs and indie rock with the young Aussie band Husky, we’ll step back in time to one of the superstar singers of the 1930s who you might never have thought of as Jewish. There are two young artists from the Chassidic tradition, the Moshe Hecht Band in New York, and reggae singer Matisyahu who sensationally shaved off his distinctive beard and sidelocks (peyot) in December. And one of the most powerful and influential Jewish musical and liturgical traditions, the art of the cantor or chazzan, the person who leads the congreation in prayer along with the rabbi. Our guide is Alberto Mizrahi, a Chicago-based cantor sometimes known as the 'Jewish Pavarotti'.

Supporting Information

Track Title: BelieversArtist: Moshe HechtComposer: Moshe HechtCD Title:Heart Is AliveRecord Co/ Number: Independent ReleaseDuration: 3.39Homepage:www.moshehecht.comMoshe Hecht and band from NYC and the first single from the debut album Heart Is Alive, mixing folk, rock, reggae and Chassidic melodies, the Jewish mystical tradition that started in Eastern Europe several centuries ago. And no surprise given that singer-songwriter Moshe Hecht was born into a Chassidic family and according to an email he sent me last week, was himself rabbinically ordained in Melbourne four years ago!

Track Title: Uvnucho YomarArtist: Cantor Alberto Mizrahi with The Western WindComposer: J. Rumshinsky arr. A. ManchesterCD Title:Taste of Eternity, A Music Shabbat Part IIRecord Co/ Number: Western Wind Records 1899Duration: 5.41Homepage:albertomizrahi.comFrom one of the most powerful and influential Jewish musical and liturgical traditions, the art of the cantor or chazzan, known as the messenger of the congregation, the shaliach tzibbur, the person who leads the prayers along with the rabbi. In Orthodox Judaism a cantor must be male, although in Conservative and Reform Judaism today a cantor can be either male or female. This is a Shabbat song, Uvnucho Yomar, a collection of Biblical verses sung as the Torah scroll is replaced in the Ark in the synagogue near the end of a service. There are a lot of different settings. This is by the Yiddish theatre composer Joseph Rumshinsky. Sung by the man sometimes called the 'Jewish Pavarotti', the world-famous cantor at the Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago, Alberto Mizrahi.

Track Title: HellelujahArtist: Yasmin LevyComposer: L. Cohen/ Spanish adaptation: Alberto ManzanoCD Title: SentirRecord Co/ Number: Beat No Beat BNB 102Duration: 3.55Homepage:www.yasminlevy.netJewish music is constantly evolving, a living stream, and that’s a good example, the ancient Hebrew exclamation of praise 'Hallelujah', adapted by a world-weary Leonard Cohen and given a flamenco style by Israeli-born Yasmin Levy who spends most of her time in Spain. Her father Yitzhak was a renowned collector and preserver of Ladino songs, the music of the 15th century Spanish Jews, so in a way she’s keeping the family tradition alive. It’s from her 2009 album Sentir.

Track Title: Kol NidreArtist: Al JolsonComposer: trad.CD Title:Songs for DavidRecord Co/ Number: Independent ReleaseDuration: 4.12Homepage:www.bbc.co.ukFrom 1947, Al Jolson, born Asa Yoelson in present day Lithuania where his father was a rabbi and cantor. And it’s that tradition of cantorial singing that Jolson took with him into the world of popular entertainment, becoming a kind of rock star of the 1930s before the term was invented, America’s most famous and most highly paid performer. Kol Nidre which we just heard, is from the Yom Kippur service and was the highlight of his famous 1927 film The Jazz Singer, the singer in question being the son of a cantor whose first Broadway show opens on the holiest day of the Jewish year, the day of atonement, Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebrated this past week ushers in the ten Days of Awe or Days of Repentance (\\Yamim Nora'im) that continue until Yom Kippur, the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar.

Track Title: Dark SeaArtist: HuskyComposer: Husky GawendaCD Title:Forever SoRecord Co/ Number: Liberation LMCD0152Duration: 2.56Homepage:www.facebook.comPast winners of Triple J’s Unearthed, Aussie band Husky from their debut album Forever So. I saw them a couple of years ago at the inaugural Sydney Jewish Music Festival and since then their career has taken off, being named by Rolling Stone magazine as a band to watch. Which you can do later this year when they support Mumford & Sons on their Gentlemen of the Road tour of Australia in October.

Track Title: SunshineArtist: MatisyahuComposer: MatisyahuCD Title: Spark SeekerRecord Co/ Number: Fallen Sparks RecordsDuration: 3.34Homepage:www.facebook.comHe used to be known as the Chassidic reggae and rock singer from Crown Heights Brooklyn. When I spoke to him a year or so ago he was the poster boy for a new generation of forthright Jewish musicians. Since then he’s shaved off the beard and sidelocks or peyot that once defined him, left Crown Heights for LA, and in December tweeted ‘No more Chassidic reggae superstar.’ He’s still on a divine mission but the nature of it isn’t entirely clear. The new album Spark Seeker does however continue his interest in the Kabbalistic imagery of light, and this is the first single, 'Sunshine'